BEFORE THE

PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission :

:

v. : R-00072711

: R-00072711C0001 et al.

Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. :

PREHEARING ORDER

A telephonic prehearing conference was held on January 29, 2008. The presiding officers were Administrative Law Judges Charles E. Rainey, Jr. and Guy M. Koster. Present were Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. (AP), Office of Trial Staff (OTS), Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), Office of Small Business Advocate (OSBA), Aqua Large Users Group (Aqua LUG), Philadelphia Suburban Association of Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors (PSA), Masthope Rapids Property Owners Council (Masthope) and Hedgerow Homeowner’s Association (Hedgerow).

1. Prehearing Conference Memoranda

In compliance my Prehearing Conference Order dated January 11, 2008, prehearing conference memoranda were submitted by AP, OTS, OCA, OSBA, Aqua LUG, PSA, Masthope and Hedgerow.

2. Petition to Intervene

On January 7, 2008, Masthope filed a petition to intervene in this proceeding. There were no objections. I granted Masthope’s petition to intervene.


3. Active and Inactive Parties

Active party participation in this proceeding includes:

(a)  The obligation to comply with the administrative law judges’ orders.

(b)  The obligation to serve all other parties with pleadings.

(c)  The obligation to respond to discovery requests.

(d)  The obligation to attend prehearing conferences and hearings.

(e)  The right to present evidence.

(f)  The right to cross-examine witnesses.

(g)  The right to discovery.

(h)  The right to file motions, briefs and exceptions.

Inactive parties to this proceeding will receive certain documents such as any settlement petition, the administrative law judges’ recommended decision, and final commission order, but will not receive other documents such as copies of discovery, testimony and exhibits, motions, interim rulings and correspondence. Inactive parties may testify at a public input hearing.

Any complainant not attending the prehearing conference held on January 29, 2008, must within 10 days of the date of this prehearing order, file with the Commission and submit to me a letter which states that the complainant will participate as an active party in this proceeding. Failure of the complainant to timely file with the Commission and submit to me such a letter will result in the complainant being removed from the active party service list and placed on an inactive party service list.


The Commission’s address for filing purposes is:

James McNulty, Secretary

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

P.O. Box 3265

Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265

My address is:

Charles E. Rainey, Jr.

Administrative Law Judge

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

Philadelphia State Office Building

Room 1302

1400 West Spring Garden Street

Philadelphia, PA 19130

4. Discovery

Effective January 29, 2008, the following discovery rules shall apply in this proceeding:

(a)  Answers to written interrogatories shall be served in-hand within 10 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.

(b)  The answering participant must make any objections orally to the participant submitting the interrogatories within 3 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.

(c)  Written objections shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer, within 5 calendar days after service of the interrogatories.

(d)  Motions to compel answers to interrogatories shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer within 3 calendar days after service of the written objections.

(e)  Answers to motions to compel answers to interrogatories shall be served on the parties, filed with the Commission, and submitted to the presiding officer within 3 calendar days after service of the motion to compel.

(f)  Rulings on motions to compel shall be made within 7 days of the presiding officer’s receipt of the motion to compel, if practicable.

(g)  When a written request for admissions is made, matters are deemed admitted unless the request is answered in writing within 10 calendar days or objected to in writing within 5 calendar days after the request is made.

(h)  Answers to on-the-record data requests will be served in-hand within 7 calendar days of the request.

(i)  Discovery requests and/or responses to discovery delivered on a Friday after 12:00 noon will be deemed served on the following Monday or next business day if the Monday is a holiday observed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

(j)  The parties are expected to cooperate with each other in regard to discovery.

(k)  The parties are encouraged to amicably resolve discovery disputes among themselves.

5. Schedule for Written Testimony, Evidentiary Hearings and Briefs

The following schedule was agreed to by the parties and adopted:

February 28, 2008 Direct Testimony of Parties other than AP due in-hand

March 20, 2008 Rebuttal Testimony of all Parties due in- hand

April 8, 2008 Surrebuttal Testimony of all Parties due in- hand

April 15-18, 21, 2008 Evidentiary Hearings

May 8, 2008 Main Briefs due in-hand

May 16, 2008 Reply Briefs due in-hand

The evidentiary hearings will be held in an available hearing room in the Philadelphia State Office Building, Broad and Spring Garden Streets, 13th Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130. The evidentiary hearings will begin at 10:00 a.m.

Parties are to work together and present to the ALJs at least one week before the evidentiary hearings, a schedule which includes the order of witnesses each day and the topic(s) the witness will address that day.

Written testimonies and briefs are due in-hand by 4:00 p.m. on the due dates. Technical terms and concepts are to be clearly defined and explained in written testimonies and briefs.

Briefs must follow the content and form for briefs as set forth in 52 Pa. Code §5.501. Briefs shall include proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and ordering paragraphs. Briefs shall be as concise as possible. Any unpublished opinions, decisions or policies cited in a brief, must be attached to the brief. Briefs shall also follow the “Special Instructions for Briefs and Exceptions in Major General Rate Increase Proceedings” and “Standardized Brief Format for General Rate Increase Proceedings” which are attached to this order at Appendix A.

6. Public Input Hearings

We will endeavor to schedule public input hearings consistent with the following proposal of the parties.[1] However, the dates, times and places for the public input hearings are subject to change.

Date Place Time

1. March 4, 2008 Luzerne Twp. 7:00 p.m.

Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg.

2. March 5, 2008 West Chester/Newtown Sq. 7:00 p.m.

Borough of West Chester Municipal Bldg.

3. March 6, 2008 Lansdowne 2:00 p.m.

Lansdowne Borough Hall

4. March 6, 2008 Montgomery County 7:00 p.m.

Penn State Abington Campus

Once the dates, times and places for the public input hearings are confirmed, AP is to advertise the public input hearings in a timely fashion. AP is to work with any interested parties in regard to the wording of the public input hearing announcements and where and how the public input hearing announcements are to be published and/or broadcast. At each public input hearing, AP is to introduce an exhibit that provides the wording of the public input hearing announcement, where it appeared and on what dates.

7. Document Submission

Written testimonies and briefs may be delivered to Administrative Law Judges Rainey and Koster via electronic mail on the date due as long as a hard copy is delivered to them by the following business day via overnight mail or hand delivery. The parties may enter into an agreement in regard to the manner in which they will serve documents on each other. The parties are otherwise required to serve documents on each other consistent with the Commission’s rules at Title 52 of the Pennsylvania Code.

______

Charles E. Rainey, Jr.

Administrative Law Judge

Guy M. Koster

Administrative Law Judge

Date: January 30, 2008

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Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission v. Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc.

Docket Nos. R-00072711, R-00072711C0001 et al.

SERVICE LIST

Thomas P. Gadsden, Esquire Andre C. Dasent, Esquire

Anthony C. DeCusatis, Esquire One Liberty Place

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1650 Market Street, 36th Floor

1701 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103

Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921

Richard Kanaskie, Esquire Dianne E. Dusman, Esquire

Robert V. Eckenrod, Esquire Darlene Wong, Esquire

Pa. Public Utility Commission Jennedy Santolla, Esquire

Office of Trial Staff Candis A. Tunilo, Esquire

P.O. Box 3265 Office of Consumer Advocate

Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265 555 Walnut Street, Forum Place

5th Floor

Harrisburg, PA 17101-1921

Daniel G. Asmus, Esquire Charis Mincavage, Esquire

Office of Small Business Advocate Barry Naum, Esquire

Commerce Building, Suite 1102 McNees, Wallace & Nurick, LLC

300 North Second Street 100 Pine Street

Harrisburg, PA 17101 P.O. Box 1166

Harrisburg, PA 17108-1166

John F. Povilaitis, Esquire John Dillon

Matthew Totino, Esquire 485 N. Buhl Farm Drive

Ryan, Russell, Ogden & Seltzer Hermitage, PA 16148

800 North Third Street, Suite 101

Harrisburg, PA 17102

Richard P. Odato Ronald Zeibig

501 Ashley Lane 123 Ash Street

Jefferson Hills, PA 15025 Tunkhannock, PA 18657

Doris L. Jensen Margaret C. Hindenach

75 War Trophy Lane 2029 Waterloo Road

Media, PA 19063-5244 Berwyn, PA 19312

Peter Crane William G. Toole, III

54 S. Linden Avenue 217 Country Road

Aldan, PA 19018 Berwyn, PA 19312

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John R. Carty Theodore C. Dmytryk

738 Mustin Lane 1221 Seabird Drive

Villanova, PA 19085 Bristol, PA 19007

John H. Celluci, Esquire Quang Dinh

426 St. Davids Avenue 211 Brandywine Road

Wayne, PA 19087 Collegeville, PA 19426

Paul R. Cress Marie Shively

405 Highland Avenue 1428 Bath Road

Morton, PA 19070-1108 Bristol, PA 19007

James M. McMaster, Esquire Stephen Caldcraro

6001 Bensalem Boulevard 145 Barbara Drive

Bensalem, PA 19020 Springfield, PA 19064

Werner G. Schmidt, Jr. Ernest J. DiFilippo

779 Dogwood Terrace 3 Kincaid Court

Boiling Springs, PA 17007-9633 Media, PA 19063-1148

Rodney & Shanya Pressley Frederick Reece

513 Alexander Avenue 2805 Half Mile Post South

Drexel Hill, PA 19026 Garnet Valley, PA 19061

Susan O. Vansomeren Lisa Curran

2544 Bond Avenue 516 Lawrence Road

Drexel Hill, PA 19026 Havertown, PA 19083

Paul Barry Anne W. Banse

403 St. John’s Circle 8 Biddlewood Road

Phoenixville, PA 19460 Wyndmoor, PA 19038

Joseph J. Silva

103 Edgewood Drive West

Clarks Summit, PA 18411-9383

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APPENDIX A

7

[1] The parties agreed to holding public input hearings at all of the locations, with the exception of Lansdowne. AP proposed that the public input hearing be held in Media instead. After hearing arguments from the OCA and AP, I determined that we will endeavor to hold the public input hearing in Lansdowne. According to counsel for both AP and OCA, Lansdowne and Media are about 6 miles apart.